Vanaspati - 4th Melakarta rāgam

Before continue reading, be aware about Vanaspati Raga , by listening....

• By Vidwan M Narayan

Vanaspati scale with shadjam at C

Vanaspati(Sanskrit: वनस्पति, Telugu: వనస్పతి, Tamil: வனஸ்பதி, English: The lord of the forest) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music).

It is the 4th melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgams of Carnatic music, following the Katapayadi sankhya system. In theMuthuswami Dikshitar school of music, this raga is called Bhānumati.

Structure and Lakshana:

Vanaspati is the 4th rāgam in the 1st chakra Indu of the melakarta system. Its mnemonic name is Indu-Bhu. Its mnemonic phrase is sa ra ga ma pa dhi ni.[2]Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on this notation):

ārohaṇa S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2 S
avarohaṇa S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S

Shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, chathusruthi dhaivatham and kaisiki nishadham are the swaras used in this scale. As it is a melakarta rāgam, by definition it is a sampoorna rāgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the shuddha madhyamam equivalent of Navaneetam, which is the 40th melakarta rāgam.

Asampurna Melakarta:

Bhānumati is the 4th Melakarta in the original list compiled by Venkatamakhin. The notes used in the scale are the same, but the ascending scale is different. It is an shadava-sampurna raga (6 notes in ascending scale, while full 7 are used in descending scale).
ārohaṇa: S R1 M1 P D2 N2 S'
avarohaṇa: S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S

Janya rāgams:

Rasāli is one of the better known of few janya ragams (derived sclaes) associated with Vanaspati. See List of janya rāgams for full list of rāgams associated with Vanaspati.

Raga Name

Ascending Scale(ārohanam)

Descending Scale(Avarohanam)

4 Vanaspati	S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2 S	S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S
Bhānumati	N2 S M1 P N2 S	S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S
Rasāli	S R1 M1 P D2 N2 S	S D2 P M1 R1 S
Vanāvali	S R1 M1 P D2 N2 S	S D2 P M1 R1 S
Vittalapriya	S R1 M1 P D2 S	S D2 P M1 R1 S

Related rāgams:

Vanaspati's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields a minor melakarta rāgam Mararanjani. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting theshadjam to the next note in the rāgam.

Rāgam	Mela #	C		D		E	F		G		A		B	C		D		E	F
Vanaspati	04	S	R1	G1			M1		P		D2	N2		S'	R1'	G1'			M1'
Mararanjani	25						S		R2		G3	M1		P	D1	N1			S'

Compositions

(Will come soon..)